


Let's Hide Under The Covers

by Flavoredfaeman



Category: The Mechanisms (Band), Ulysses Dies at Dawn - The Mechanisms (Album)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Wizard!oedipus, mercenary!heracles, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29322597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flavoredfaeman/pseuds/Flavoredfaeman
Summary: Heracles shows up at Oedipus' tower and Oedipus helps him outTitle from Wild Blue Yonder by The Amazing Devil
Relationships: Heracles/Oedipus (Ulysses Dies at Dawn)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	Let's Hide Under The Covers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chaoticfoolish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticfoolish/gifts).



> Hands you a fantasy au!  
> Oedipus is a wizard and Heracles is a mercenary  
> I have more planned for this au but here's this little treat for now

It was late when Oedipus heard the knocking at his door.

He had been reading by a fire, but at the knocking he was quick to set down his book and go to the door.

He knew who it was of course - no one else ever visited him here in his tower, especially not at this hour - but he was still surprised when Heracles stumbled inside battered and bloody.

He hadn't been able to hide his horrified gasp at the sight and Heracles gave him a small smile.

"Don't worry, most of the blood isn't mine," Heracles said, clearly trying to reassure the wizard but the pained sound of his voice only served to make the wizard worry more.

"Yeah I'm sure I should see the other guy." Oedipus rolled his eyes and carefully pulled Heracles away from the wall he was leaning against and to a chair.

Heracles chuckled weakly, "Well you should."

Oedipus sighed and shook his head as he scanned Heracles for injuries.

Heracles hadn't been lying, most of his injuries hadn't broken skin and those that did weren't worrisome.

Oedipus nodded to himself and then straightened up as he went to grab a couple of spell ingredients.

Heracles made a humming noise, "You gonna do you weird magic on me then?"

Oedipus huffed a laugh as he returned to Heracles, "Yeah I'm going to do that. Could you take off your shirt?"

"Scandalous," Heracles teased as he pulled the shirt up and off, grunting as he stretched out some of his injuries.

"Well it's either create such a scandal or cut the shirt off your body again."

Heracles shook his head at the memory, he'd been too wounded that day to lift his arms up and it had resulted in him having no shirt.

"Now then," Oedipus pulled a stool over so that he sat in front of Heracles and began to tear apart the various herbs and other ingredients in his hands while whispering a couple incantations.

"Hold still," he whispered, leaning forward and placing his hands and the ingredients against Heracles' chest.

As Oedipus sharpened his focus Heracles drew in a sharp inhale, the feeling of magic flowing through him still strange and new.

Oedipus let his magic flow through Heracles, focusing the healing on the wounds, patching up burst veins and fractured bone.

After a few minutes Oedipus pulled back, the ingredients gone as they'd been transferred into the spell.

"There we go," Oedipus said with a smile before stifling a yawn behind his hand. "You should get washed up now and I'll get the stains out of your clothes."

Heracles nodded, looking rather tired as well. "Washroom hasn't moved, right?"

Oedipus giggled and shook his head as he put the stool away. "I really don't know what you think magic does but it doesn't move washrooms."

Heracles shrugged and headed to the familiar washroom and Oedipus followed after him. He had stopped letting Heracles washup alone after battles when Heracles almost flooded his poor tower (not that Heracles minded the company).

Oedipus filled the tub up with warm water and some bath salts - which he claimed weren't magical but Heracles was pretty sure they were.

After all, how else could they get him to relax so much? And they helped with his sore muscles! They had to be magic.

Maybe Oedipus just wouldn't tell him because he was embarrassed that they weren't his own magic. Which Heracles could tell because while the bath salts were nice and comforting, they didn't have the same feel as Oedipus' magic.

Oedipus' magic was cool and calm and refreshing, it felt like taking a drink of water after being parched for a day, it also changed slightly depending on Oedipus' mood. His worry made the magic feel sharper than normal, and his happiness made it feel all the lighter.

The bath salts didn't feel like that, nor did they change feeling with how Oedipus felt but rather with the combination of salts Oedipus put in.

As Heracles slipped into the familiar bath he let out a pleased sigh.

Meanwhile Oedipus sat down on a stool and began to thoroughly scrub Heracles' clothes in a small basin full of water.

Heracles gave him a look. "Can't you just magic them clean?"

Oedipus shrugged, not looking up, "I could, but I just used a lot of magic on you, and-" He glanced up and gave Heracles a smile, "-I've found that sometimes a little hard work goes a long way."

He paused and made a face at the quickly darkening water, "Though I might just have to spell them clean anyway."

Heracles snorted at Oedipus' pout (and ignored the subsequent glare the wizard gave him) and began scrubbing the blood and dirt off of himself.

They settled into a comfortable silence and stayed like that until Oedipus stood up with a huff, letting the clothes sink into the basin.

"When do you ever wash these?" He asked, shaking out his hands.

Heracles shrugged and gave the wizard a playful grin, "When I come over and you spell them."

Oedipus stared at him for a second before striding over and purposefully dunking Heracles' head under water. (Which Heracles certainly could have stopped him from doing if he wanted to, the wizard was not strong.)

When Heracles resurfaced, laughing and splashing Oedipus, Oedipus was saying, "-haven't come by in weeks! I can't believe you've just been roaming around in your disgusting clothes!"

Oedipus threw his hands in the air and cried, "Really, what am I going to do with you?"

"Heal my wounds mostly," Heracles said as he leaned against the edge of the bathe, smiling up at Oedipus in a way that was definitely  _ not _ fond.

Oedipus rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hold back a smile as he went back over to the basin. He paused there as an idea came over him.

"Uh oh, I've seen that look. That look means trouble, the hell're you planning over there wizard?"

Oedipus gave him a smile, this one was his 'I'm about to do something I shouldn't' smile and it did  _ not _ make Heracles' heart leap.

"Don't move!" Oedipus warned as he pushed his sleeves up higher. "I'm going to try something!"

Heracles groaned, "With my clothes? I don't want to leave here in another one of your robes y'know."

But Oedipus wasn't listening, he was whispering something, with his hands just barely breaking the surface tension of the water.

Heracles watched, entranced. It was not often he got to just watch Oedipus cast spells (as he was usually the recipient of said spells) and even less often did he watch the wizard try out new ideas.

Oedipus' eyes were closed and his hands glowed the faintest bit of blue, his hair rustled as if being stirred by an invisible wind, and all the while he whispered so softly that Heracles could not even begin to understand the words.

Then all at once the spell was over, whatever spell it was, and Oedipus straightened up, blinking. Sounds that Heracles had not even noticed were missing also returned, like the soft swishing of water and of insects outside.

Oedipus looked down into the basin and Heracles realized with a start that there was no more water left in it. Oedipus reached in and pulled out Heracles' clothes, which looked far cleaner than Heracles had ever seen them.

"The hell did you do?"

Oedipus looked up with a twinkle in his eyes and rushed over before taking the pale shirt and ruffling it on Heracles' still blood and dirt covered head.

"Wha - Oedipus!" Heracles cried, pushing the blasted wizard away. "You just cleaned it why would yo-"

Heracles stopped and stared at the shirt, it was still clean. It wasn't even damp!

"What did you do?" Heracles asked again, his voice hushed.

Oedipus giggled and bounced on the balls of his feet. "I put a spell on it that keeps it from getting dirty!"

Heracles blinked, "Wow. Holy shit, Oedipus…" Heracles nodded, at a loss for words.

Then Oedipus' excitement seemed to seep out of him and the man started to tip sideways.

Heracles made a strangled sound as he dropped the shirt and leaned out of the tub to catch Oedipus and pull him to sit down on the edge of the tub.

Oedipus seemed dizzy now, and tired. Magic always took a lot out of a person.

Heracles had learned that the hard way after a particularly bad day, when after healing him Oedipus had promptly collapsed.

Oedipus had tried to explain it to Heracles, he said it was something about the transfer of energy but Heracles couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying so they left it at "magic makes you tired."

"You okay?"

Oedipus blinked at him slowly and Heracles couldn't help but be reminded of a cat. Then Oedipus tipped backwards and into the water.

Heracles gasped and quickly pulled the wizard out of the water, who was coughing and sputtering.

"Sorry," another cough, "Sorry! I'm awake now." Oedipus groaned and wiped the now wet hair from his eyes, he was certainly aware again though Heracles could practically feel the exhaustion slipping off of him in waves.

Heracles sighed and helped Oedipus back out of the bath, unfortunately his top half was entirely drenched and his hat was also soaked.

Oedipus sighed and watched water drip onto the floor as he debated using another spell to dry him off. But he didn't want to collapse in front of Heracles again so he decided against it.

Instead he pulled off his over shirt and robe and began to dry himself off. Heracles went back to cleaning off, though he did occasionally look up to make sure Oedipus wasn't falling over.

Once Oedipus was dry he left to grab some new clothes and once he was back Heracles had finished.

Oedipus tossed Heracles a new towel which he'd brought with him and then went to unplug the bath.

Heracles dried himself off and put back on his clothes and left the towel laying on his head.

Oedipus chuckled and walked over to Heracles and pressed a gentle kiss onto his cheek before drying off the mercenary's hair.

Heracles made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh as he let Oedipus dry his hair.

Once he finished though Heracles leaned forward and gave Oedipus a kiss, his hands coming to wrap around the wizard's waist. Oedipus made a happy noise and leaned into the kiss, his own hands cupping Heracles' face.

They pulled away after a moment and let their foreheads rest against one another.

Oedipus cleared his throat, his face still flushed and eyes still closed. "Will you be staying long?"

Heracles' knew Oedipus hated asking him the question, almost as much as he hated answering it. Oedipus didn't want Heracles to feel pressured to stay, but always dreaded when he would leave. While Heracles was never sure how long he could get away with staying before he needed to go, and wasn't sure how long it would be until he could come back.

Heracles gave Oedipus another quick kiss before saying, "Just for the next few days."

Oedipus nodded and smiled, though Heracles knew he was already dreading the departure.

"Sleep?" Heracles suggested, barely suppressing a yawn.

Oedipus nodded, his previous exhaustion catching up with him again and after yawning he led Heracles back to  ~~ their ~~ his room.

Oedipus collapsed on the bed, snuggling under the covers, his eyes already closed.

Heracles paused at the door to take off his shirt and he set it down next to where Oedipus' hat was drying off.

Oedipus, noticing the lack of Heracles reached out and felt around the bed and let out a small whine, keeping his eyes resolutely closed.

Heracles chuckled as he slid into bed besides Oedipus, who immediately smiled and snuggled close to him. Heracles found himself with one arm around Oedipus' waist and the other under his head. Oedipus had his face nestled between his chest and neck and his arms rested against his chest as well.

Heracles pressed a kiss against the wizard's head and Oedipus made a content humming noise and nuzzled closer in response.


End file.
